


Andromeda

by Louhow



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn, before andromeda, building the nexus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:54:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22259800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Louhow/pseuds/Louhow
Summary: Shea Bennett is considered a genius. When she gets the chance to do the impossible, she leaps at it. With humanity's fate in her hands she deals with handling relationships and what it means to be in a healthy relationship.Thorin Cross thought he missed is once chance to be a N7, now he works private security at Garson Tech. While there he finds his chance to push himself to be the best again.





	Andromeda

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I know we were all a little disappointed in Mass Effect Andromeda but I was more interested in the 'before'. So that's where this takes place. While Shepard is...busy...Jien Garson is building the Andromeda Initiative and making plans to send thousands of people to Andromeda. I want to write about the people who made that happen. Oh and because I LOVE relationships, it has to have a relationship in it! I decided to focus on two people. So the plan is to follow Shea and Thorin as they join the Andromeda Initiative and go to Andromeda on the Nexus.

Sometimes it was easy to forget that she wasn’t the smartest person in the room. There were only two types of people who finished a test first, geniuses and idiots. Shea was not a genius. Shea stared down at her quiz, reviewing her answers carefully. There was no way she could be done before everyone else. She looked past her hair to study the class; heads down, hardly anyone looked up. Shea quickly looked up at the time, class would be out in twenty minutes. She had already reviewed her answers, her math was correct, checked her grammar, and rechecked her significant figures. 

Shea willed someone to turn in the quiz, she didn’t want to be first. When Ben and her had been in the same classes, he had hated that she was always done before everyone else. He warned her that the professors didn’t like it either. She started to pick at her nails but stopped the bad habit before she started it. 

Shea looked back up and accidently made eye contact with Professor Kimson. He finished the review of the paper on his lap before he made his way to her desk. Shea’s heart sunk, she really had hoped he would ignore her. But it was too late now. Everyone would see. Her heart started to race. 

“How’s it going Shea?” He asked with a gentle smile.

Shea didn’t answer, she glanced around quickly, only a few students looked her way. She shook her head, mentally she wished he would disappear. She watched as he glanced at her computer. She watched as confused look followed by sudden shock. He reached for her screen and sped through her answers. Her eyes started to tear, she was wrong, all of them were wrong. She moved to clear her answers and start over. 

“Well done, Shea. Very well done.” Professor Kimson, “105%, and I thought that extra credit was a dozie.” He smiled and logged her out. 

Shea slowly left the classroom, her hair as a shield from everyone else. Ben had warned her, she always ruined the curve. Shea knew that quiz was easy, he likely did it on purpose to fix the grades. She wandered to the map room, it was usually empty. It was easier for students just to look outside rather than research stars around them. Shea pulled open her omni tool, she scanned her grades. Once again, Ben was right; she messed up the curve again. 

Shea curled up on one of the couches, and unlocked the map for the local cluster. She stared at Earth for a moment, and wished that she was there. She missed home, she missed her mom, she missed the absolute chaos in El Paso and the emptiness she felt when she hid in the art garden. It was it’s own universe, a micro universe of thousands of cultures that spun around each other in a strange grace. On impulse she checked the time on her omni tool. Her mom would probably roll out of bed in the next hour or so. Shea quickly typed up an email and sent it. Then returned her attention to the map in front of her. She knew she would be late to lunch if she didn’t leave now. She just didn’t want to. Ben would not be happy if she was late, but she just wanted to be alone for a few minutes. They had been together since she was sixteen. It was nice to be with someone for so long. A real relationship. 

But sometimes, Shea had to admit, it was hard. He needed her and sometimes could give her what she needed at the time. It took sacrifice and patience. 

Shea caught up to Ben in the mess hall. He had already gotten her a plate and set up her silverware. He gave a rare smile as she sat done, “Hello Shea.”

She smiled back, “Hello Ben. Thank you for getting lunch for me.”

He nodded, “I heard you had a tough quiz in Kimson’s today. How are you doing?”

Shea frowned at her plate, “It wasn’t that hard. I think it was to help everyone’s grades.”

Ben looked up, his dark eyes narrowed in concern, “I thought you had good grades in his class? What do you mean you needed help?”

Shea shook her head, Ben would always assume the worst, “I have an A in his class, everyone else needs the help.”

Ben frown increased, “So you messed up the curve?”

Shea sighed heavily, she wasn’t hungry anymore, “I guess.”

She watched as he closed his eyes to control his disappointment. She knew what happened after this, Ben would calm down long enough to give her his lecture on the importance of not showing off. 

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Shea cut him off before he started, “It just sort of happened.”

“Shea, that’s a basic excuse, you need to be smarter than that. Everyone is going to hate you know. I don’t want you to get bullied.” 

Shea nodded but didn’t argue. She couldn’t think of a single instance where she had been bullied. But Ben often hid things from her, so it was likely that he had stopped anything like that before she knew it had happened. 

“Eat your lunch, we have Mass Effect History and Theory after this.” Ben said his tone told Shea that he was done with the conversation. Shea picked at her food, she lost her appetite again. 

Shea had a free period after MEHT, and it was nice to get away from Ben. She curled up with her Omni tool and scanned the grades in Kimson’s class. Ben was right. She ruined the curve, everyone else had scored in the high 70%. She blinked back her tears. 

“Hey, there she is!” someone said, Shea’s eyes dried in surprise. Three classmates from Kimson came over. She swallowed nervously, she wasn’t brave enough to stand up for herself. She recognized two of them, Carla and Tim, but the other she hadn’t seen before. 

“How’d did you solve it? The extra credit?” Carla asked, she sat with a bounce and curled her legs under herself. Tim and the other guy pulled up some chairs as well, their omni tools lit, “I know I got the dimensions right, I checked with Kimson, but I totally got a huge influx of radiation after I ran the equation.”

Shea stared at her, Carla wanted help? Carla never asked for help. Tim looked excited, “Can you look over it for me? I think I have it set up right?”

The tall guy smiled, “Kimson is offering 25% of the original score of we can solve it. If you could help?”

Shea nodded that she understood, she sat up straighter, “Okay,” She knew Ben would frown at her attempts to help them, but she didn’t care. She liked Carla and Tim made her laugh. Maybe she could have friends, “I can help.”

“Sweet!” Carla said, “Don’t tell me the answer, I wanna figure it out, just tell me if I’m close.” 

It only took a second for Shea to realize what Carla had miscalculated, Tim and Henrick needed much more help. By the end of the break, they had agreed to meet up again tomorrow to study together. Shea smiled, her only friend had been Ben for so long, the opportunity to make new ones surprised her. 

Ben only agreed to Shea’s study group if they had it in the library where he could watch. He had a project that he needed time for; but he refused for her to go alone. Shea almost forgot he was there as she helped Tim and Henrick, while Carla finished some notes. 

Shea watched at Tim carefully looked over his system, “Ohh, I see,” he said and corrected his equation, “If I run it like this, that will allow the ezos core to run without overheating until after FTL. Sweet.” He looked around with a smirk, “Oh should I say cool?”

Shea rolled her eyes from the bad pun, while Carla snorted with laughter. “Run it see what happens.”

“Son of a bitch.” Tim said, “What did I...oh.” he corrected his dimensions while Shea looked over Henrick’s homework. 

By the time they had finished and agreed to make this a weekly group, it was already lights out. Ben looked furious for some reason, but Shea didn’t have a chance to find out why. The girls went to their dorms and the boys to theirs with only a quick goodnight. 

“Is Ben always so tense?” Carla asked as she gathered up her bathroom supplies, “Dude has a stick so far up his ass it affects his posture...no offence.” 

“He’s just shy,” Shea explained, “People freak him out. But he’ll warm up eventually.”

Carla made a face but didn’t say anything. She turned and study Shea for a moment, “Hey Shea, serious question,” Carla stood up and stared her in the eye, “You know you’re the smartest one here, don’t you?”

Shea turned red, “Oh no,” she disagreed, “I’m not.”

Carla shook her head, “Too bad, you should know it by now. You’re leagues above everyone else. You need to be at an Asari Academy or in the Citadel.” 

Shea shook her head, “When I was a kid I thought I was, but after a couple of failed assignments, I quickly learned my lesson.” 

Carla shrugged, “Whatever Shea, Whatever. It was english 101, wasn’t it?”

Shea laughed, relieved she had so gracefully changed the subject. Shea snuggled into her blankets. Glad that the lights had dimmed, she could at least hide her face from Carla in the dark. Carla was right, Shea was smart, not the smartest person for sure, but she was always top of the class, and was ahead several years than most students. While Carla and Ben were taking programming, Shea was three classes above them where she mapped satellite trajectories and asteroid mineral deposits. She was only in MEHT because it was required. Apparently Professor Kimson had requested she be tested to take, Mass Effect Advance Theory and Build. Dr. Hardin had also put in a request of programming language Prothean to English as a special class just for Shea. Ben had been so jealous when he found out about Shea’s potential. He had begged her to just stay quiet and stop ‘showing off’. She tried hard, kept her head down, stayed focused on her work but it did not stop her genius. If Carla said something, Ben would have something to say about it tomorrow. She frowned, he would probably want her to end the study group. 

Shea struggled awake as her alarm went off. She could hear the other girls in the dorm get up, make their way to the bathroom, but all she wanted to do was bury her head deeper into the pillow and sleep some more. She growled at the noise and hid her head under her blankets. She started to drift back, the noise around her began to fade when her second alarm went off. She kicked angrily at her blankets and sat up. Shea hated mornings, she hated alarms, she hated showers, she hated breakfast. She loved sleep. 

Carla, who had just finished her make-up, looked up and laughed, “Jesus you look like a bear.”

Shea growled and flopped to the floor, “I hate mornings.” She wasn’t sure if Carla actually heard her, it sounded to Shea like a series of growls. She stumbled to the bathroom, and grumbled until the shower shocked her awake. 

Anna poked her head into the bathroom, “Hurry up Shea! We all need to shower too!” 

Shea wrapped her hair in a towel, “I’m done, it’s yours.” 

Anna stripped in front of her, without a care, sweat coated her skin, “Thanks, you’re the best!”

The rest of the boitic students charged into the showers as well, they had early morning physical fitness, and the showers were always a mess afterwards. 

Shea got dressed and stumbled into the cafeteria to begin breakfast. It wasn’t until she was in line, a cup of coffee in one hand that she realized her Omni tool had been blinking with a message since her shower. Shea scanned the message and paled. Apparently she was supposed to meet with Professor Hardin, Shea checked the time, now. She turned and sprinted from the hall. She hated mornings. 

Shea arrived outside of Hardin’s office, covered in sweat and out of breath. Carla looked at her and shook her head, a smile on her lips. Ben was there too. He didn’t look impressed. Shea knew she would get a lecture later. He hated that she struggled in the mornings. Apparently she hadn’t been the only one who got called. A dozen students stood around, groups started to form as they waited. Ben approached his jaw tight, “Shea. what the hell?”

Shea took a breath, “Sorry, I missed it.”

“Don’t be basic, you know better. You’re embarrassing me.”

“I told you I’m sorry!” 

“First your study group, now this?” Ben grabbed her by the arm and pulled her aside, “Shea, I warned you. You need to stop drawing attention to yourself. You’re not special, you are just like everyone else!”

Shea hung her head, she knew that but she didn’t do this on purpose. Why did he always twist the truth?

Ben opened his mouth to continue but Dr. Hardin’s office opened and the hallway went silent. He was followed by two other people that Shea did not recognize. One was a Salarian, he gave a swift smile to the students but Shea could tell he was focused on his Omni tool and whatever was on it. It had to be a dossier on each student she realized, he would look up and down at each student. The other was a human, a tall woman with short black hair and an easy smile. Shea studied her for a second longer, she recognized her from somewhere, she wasn’t sure where though. Was she that reporter from the Citadel? Dr. Hardin scanned the students and gave a gentle smile. Shea hated that smile, there was something else behind the smile that she couldn’t identify, it was the smile her mom gave when she had to work an extra shift. Or the smile her father gave before he failed to keep a promise. 

“Students, I am sure you are wondering why I called you here this morning…”

Shea wasn’t sure it was morning, they were in space after all, but she kept her thoughts to herself. 

“I would like to introduce you all to Ms. Jien Garson and Dr. Criss Lofetto. They are here because they have generously offered funds for an extracurricular class option.”

Shea looked at them through her hair, there it was, the lie behind the smile. This was something else. She searched her mind, she did know the name Garson. She was a billionaire back on earth. She made her money from building starships but that was all Shea knew about her. What was she doing here?

Dr. Hardin continued, “But this class is a little...unconventional. You are all the best and brightest of my students are most qualified to take the test, if you pass, then there is a huge opportunity for you in Ms. Garson’s, ummm, project.” 

“What type of project?” A student from Shea’s advanced programming class asked. His eyes were narrow, he was suspicious as well. 

xDr. Hardin turned to Ms. Garson with a tight smile, the look on his face was of barely contained annoyance. Jien Garson gave a gracious smile and stepped forward, “A theory project, I wish to challenge the very edge of our knowledge and understanding of the universe. Dr. Hardin is certain that you have not only the intelligence but the creativity needed to see my vision.”

Ben made a face but no one else saw it, he didn’t care for corporate ideas. He would often close his computer after news and break into a long winded rage against the political climate back on earth, or the Citadel, or anywhere. Shea said nothing. She agreed with both of them. She didn’t want to be a cog in the machine. That’s why they were here, Humanity had realized the potential of kids here and it shouldn’t be bought and paid for. 

“Is this legal?” Shea heard herself ask, Ben glared at her, “You are a corporation, seeking students from a government run facility to work for you, a private institution?”

Ben stepped on her foot, he gave the smallest shake of his head but Jien only smiled wider, “This project is of a personal nature, it’s why this is an  _ extracurricular  _ option with no guarantee of employment at Garson Fleet.”

“I will agree it is highly unorthodox,” Dr. Hardin cut in, “But any student who succeeds in the class will have many opportunities across the Milky Way.”

“And beyond.” Jien added with a smile. 

Shea frowned, this didn’t seem right but she followed everyone else into the classroom and sat down at a desk. She could tell the other students felt the same, what did they actually want from them. Shea studied everyone around her, all students in science and engineering. There was no one from biotics or humanities. So they wanted to build something, something to advance the sciences. She searched the room again, there was no one here who majored in Prothean theory. Why?

“Shea Bennett. Programming, planetary sciences and star mapping, with a focus on planetary physics and orbital patterns.” 

Shea looked up at the Dr. Loffeto as he read his dossier on her. He scanned her documents again and studied her sharply, “A woman of many skills. Top of her classes in...all of her classes.”

Dr. Jien Garson gave a big smile, “Well, I can’t wait to see what you can do.” She handed Shea a computer and walked to the next student. Shea watched the test get handed out, she listened carefully to what Loffeto said about each student before she finally turned her attention to her test.

Shea nearly laughed out loud, she quickly studied the room to see everyone else with their heads down focused on their documents. She turned her attention to Dr. Hardin and Ms. Garson but they were in a deep conversation. This was impossible. Shea reread the question and debated if she should finish the test. It wasn’t required, it was extracurricular. And on top of everything, it just wasn’t possible. Shea looked around again, Seth, stood up. He marched to the front of the classroom, Shea hesitated then followed. 

“This is impossible.” Seth told them in an angry whisper, “It can’t be done. For a million reasons.”

Jien Garson’s smile couldn’t possible get any bigger, “But what if it was?”

Shea studied Seth and then her, “He’s right.”

Jien winked at them both, “But in theory; with no restrictions, no limit on funds and resources, if you could do anything to make it work, what would that require?”

Shea mentally started her list, if resources didn’t matter could it work, “Okay,” She whispered, “But there are so many other factors…”

“Don’t worry about those factors, worry about this.”

“Even with all the resources, even if I was God.” Seth snapped, “It wouldn’t work.”

“We’re humans,” Jien smiled, “Give us time and a little bit of hope and we can do anything.”

Seth shook his head, “This is bullshit.” He tossed his computer at them and walked out of the class. Shea wanted to follow but she didn’t. She hesitated for a moment, if she had unlimited resources, if she had all the money and power in the Citadel, she wasn’t sure it would be enough. But as a mind exercise, why not. She could pretend, couldn’t she?

Shea slowly sat back down, finally organizing her thoughts on screen. Ben hated when she got this way, he said it was like he was with a wall. She couldn’t hear anything around her, her mind would get so focused on what was in front of her. By the time Shea had finished her list of what codes would need to be compiled and what data would have to be deduced, and a rough estimate of how long that would take. Shea stretched in her seat, reminded herself that it was endless resources, and discovered she was the only one in the room still. 

Dr. Hardin and Dr. Lottefo were bent over the computers from the other students obviously in deep discussion but Jien Garson was focused on Shea. That easy smile was gone, an almost animal hunger was in her eyes. 

Shea jumped out of her seat, “Sorry, I didn’t realize.” She went to turn her computer, she could feel the heat in her face. 

“Don’t apologize,” Jien said her smile had returned, “I like to see students that thrive with impossible challenges.”

Shea hesitated, “So you agree? It’s impossible?” Shea watched Dr. Lottefo look at her screen, “It’s per system, so multiple the time by 100 billion. Not to mention that we are looking at the past when we look at other galaxies.”

Jien studied her, the smile gone, “How would we be able to see it now? If you had all the resources and all the money?”

Shea leaned back onto a desk, her mind searching for what might work, “The Mass Effects somehow, shoot a picture through it? But even then, how much time are you cutting off, really?”

Dr. Hardin cleared his throat, “Thank you Shea, but I believe you are needed in Prothean History and Translations, correct?”

Shea looked at her wrist, she sighed heavily, and turned on her heel, “See you later Dr. Hardin.” She hesitated and spun back and waved, “You too Dr. Lottefo, Ms. Garson.”

Shea couldn’t believe she had lost track of so much time. She knew Ben would never let her hear the end of it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so Chapter 1 is done! I am not super strong in the unhealthy relationship department, so I really made Ben just horrible. I should have made it more subtle. But maybe I'm just not that creative. I took some creative liberties with this one. So I wanted this to take place at Grissom Academy...but after some research it was also built 10 years ago from ME3...so that wouldn't work. So i took that image of Grissom Academy and just gave it another name. I also made up where Jien Garson would have her facilities. I figured they would be kind of all over the place. Again artistic liberties.


End file.
